Who's trending up in fall camp?

Cats Illustrated's Jeff Drummond has been providing practice reports and will throughout the rest of the 2024 college football season, and we're already learning about the Cats.

Here's a look at some of the players who are trending up based on what the coaches have said so far.

WR Fred Farrier

In our first edition of camp insider notes Farrier was mentioned as a standout and Bush Hamdan later highlighted him with local media. That was at the start of this week. Hamdan said he was not surprised that Farrier has looked good so far. What Cats Illustrated has reported is that Kentucky moved to add Farrier in the offseason because his film compared favorably to that of some of the backup receivers on the roster last season. Farrier was deemed to be a better athlete and better able to get separation than some of the bigger receivers UK had that have left the program. Now we see that Raymond Cottrell, formerly at A&M before Kentucky, has moved on to Division II's West Florida. In hindsight, Farrier saw a good depth chart situation and the move made sense for both sides. It seems like he's a safe bet to be a top four or five receiver for UK which should mean quite a few snaps and maybe even a starting role next year.

WR Hardley Gilmore

Gilmore looked fantastic in the scrimmage on Saturday, according to all accounts. He had a splash play of 40 yards and has been someone folks in the program have been excited about since he signed. He was injured recently, however, and that will impact his readiness to contribute this year but in the big picture he looks good.

RB Jamarion Wilcox

Cats Illustrated reported this weekend that UK's redshirt freshman running back was starting to have a camp breakthrough and offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan confirmed that at his Monday press conference. Wilcox came in last year and had to learn the offense and become consistent in doing the little things that are prerequisites to getting on the field, but he has some acceleration that's reminiscent of Boom Williams' running style. We don't know how many carries Wilcox will be in line for, but with the offensive coordinator singling you out as a standout, you're officially on watch as a player this fall. We know opportunity is there in the backfield as Hamdan has said it could be something of a committee approach. With news that Chip Trayanum will miss the very first part of the season, Wilcox is in focus more than ever.

OL Jalen Farmer

Sources close to the program have maintained that Farmer has been a positive addition since he came in from Florida. Eric Wolford recruited Farmer when he was coming out of high school so we know the Cats' offensive line coach likes the former Gator and he appears to be in a position to win a starting guard position this year. Farmer doesn't have much experience but is a very high ceiling player with the attributes Kentucky looks for up front, namely athleticism and a nasty streak.

OL Aba Selm

Selm is the other offensive lineman we've heard some really good things about lately in terms of improvement. That's no knock on other players up front, as there's confidence in the starting tackle situation, but depth development has been a huge focus up front for a while now. Selm is a guard who is being cross-trained to also help out at center in a pinch and if he's ready to provide real depth this season that would be a game-changer and would mean he's slightly ahead of schedule.

CB Terhyon Nichols

Nichols was one of Kentucky's many four-star commitments from the last recruiting cycle and he does not appear to be disappointing early in his time with the program. The Cincinnati prospect has been one of the program's most impressive freshmen and that has continued into fall camp. Nichols has the right mindset and the coverage instincts make him a prime candidate to become a big-time defensive back for them. Don't be surprised if he gets on the field this year, even as there are older players who are still hoping for a breakthrough.